Equivalence of combined decoction and mixed single decoctions of Gegen Qinlian Decoction in alleviating chemotherapy-associated diarrhea / 中国中药杂志

This study compared the chemical profiles, component content, dry paste yield, and pharmacological effects of samples obtained from the mixed single decoctions and the combined decoction of Gegen Qinlian Decoction(GQD), aiming to provide an experimental foundation for evaluating the equivalence of the two decocting methods and the suitability of TCM formula granules in clinical application. The same decoction process was used to prepare the combined decoction and mixed single decoctions of GQD. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with Q-Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS) was employed to compare the chemical profiles between the two groups. High-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) was used to compare the content of nine characteristic components between the two groups. Then, a delayed diarrhea mouse model induced by irinotecan was established to compare the pharmacological effects of the two groups on chemotherapy-induced diarrhea. The UPLC-Q-Exactive Orbitrap MS in ESI~+ and ESI~- modes identified 59 chemical components in the compound decoction and mixed single decoctions, which showed no obvious differences in component species. The content of baicalin and wogonoside was higher in the compound decoction, while that of puerarin, daidzein-8-C-apiosylglucoside, berberine, epiberberine, wogonin, glycyrrhizic acid, and daidzein was higher in the mixed single decoctions. Further statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in the content of the nine characteristic components between the compound decoction and the mixed single decoctions. The dry paste yield had no significant difference between the two groups. Compared with the model group, both compound decoction and mixed single decoctions alleviated the weight loss and reduced diarrhea index in mice. Both of them lowered the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-1β(IL-1β), cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2), intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1), interleukin-10(IL-10), malondialdehyde(MDA), and nitric oxide(NO) in the colon tissue. Furthermore, they significantly increased the levels of glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase(SOD). Hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining showed that colon tissue cells were tightly arranged with clear nuclei in both groups without obvious difference. The compound decoction and mixed single decoctions showed no significant differences in chemical component species, content of nine characteristic components, dry paste yield, or the pharmacological effects on alleviating chemotherapy-induced diarrhea. The findings provide a reference for evaluating the flexibility and superiority of combined or single decocting method in the preparation of TCM decoctions or formula granules.

Analysis of Mechanism of Chloroform Extract of Gegen Qinliantang on Alleviating Enterotoxicity Induced by Irinotecan / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:Considering the efficacy of Gegen Qinliantang （GQT） in releasing exterior and clearing interior to alleviate dampness-heat dysentery， we analyzed the mechanism of the chloroform extract of GQT in alleviating enterotoxicity caused by irinotecan to provide an experimental basis for the development of GQT. Method:Kunming mice （<italic>n</italic>=60） were randomly divided into a blank group， a model group， a loperamide group （positive drug of loperamide hydrochloride capsule， 0.4 mg·kg^-1）， and high- （2.3 g·kg^-1） and low-dose （1.16 g·kg^-1） GQT chloroform extract groups. The mouse model of delayed diarrhea was established by intraperitoneal injection of irinotecan hydrochloride （CPT-11， 55 mg·kg^-1） for four consecutive days， meanwhile， the mice in the blank group only received the same volume of normal saline. Corresponding drugs were administered by gavage on the fifth day， respectively， while the ones in the blank group and model group were given distilled water for five consecutive days. The general condition of mice in each group was observed， and diarrhea indexes of mice were recorded. Pathological changes in colon tissues of mice were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The tumor necrosis factor （TNF）-<italic>α</italic>， interleukin （IL）-1<italic>β</italic>， cyclooxygenase （COX）-2， intercellular adhesion molecule （ICAM）-1， glutathione peroxidase （GSH-Px）， superoxide dismutase （SOD）， malondialdehyde （MDA） and nitric oxide （NO） levels in colon tissues were detected with the assay kits. Furthermore， the expression levels of Kelch sample epoxy chloropropane associated protein 1 （Keap1）， nuclear factor E₂ related factor 2 （Nrf2）， tight junction protein-1 （ZO-1）， heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1） and tight junction protein （Occludin） were detected by Western blot. Result:Compared with the blank group， the model group showed declined body weight and reduced contents of GSH-Px and SOD （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， whereas increased diarrhea indexes and TNF-<italic>α</italic>， IL-1<italic>β</italic>， COX-2， ICAM-1， MDA and NO levels （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Abundant inflammatory cells and colonic mucosa with defects， swelling， bleeding， and inflammatory exudation were revealed by HE staining in the mice of the model group. The expression levels of Keap1， Nrf2， ZO-1， HO-1 and Occludin in colon tissues significantly declined （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the model group， the loperamide group and the high- and low-dose GQT chloroform extract groups exhibited improved weight loss， reduced diarrhea indexes， diminished TNF-<italic>α</italic>，<italic> </italic>IL-1<italic>β</italic>， COX-2， ICAM-1， MDA and NO， and elevated GSH-Px and SOD. HE staining indicated that the cells were compactly arranged with clear nuclei in the high- and low-dose GQT chloroform extract groups， and the expression levels of Keap1， Nrf2， HO-1， Occludin， and ZO-1 were up-regulated. Conclusion:GQT chloroform extract may alleviate CPT-11-induced delayed diarrhea by regulating inflammation and oxidative stress for enhancing the intestinal barrier function. These findings are expected to provide a reference for exploring the toxicity-attenuating effect of Chinese medicinals on chemotherapy drugs and for developing famous classical formulas.

Active components and mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction in treatment of primary dysmenorrhea based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology / 中国中药杂志

This paper aimed to investigate the active components and mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea(PD) based on network pharmacology and molecular docking technology. Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP) was used to search the chemical compositions and targets of six herbs in Taohong Siwu Decoction. The targets for PD treatment were selected through the databases of DrugBank, OMIM, TTD and CTD, and gene annotation of the targets was conducted with UniProt database. Cytoscape 3.7.2 was then used to construct the drug-compound-target network. The protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed based on STRING, and the core targets of Taohong Siwu Decoction in the treatment of PD were selected according to the topological parameters. David database was used for GO enrichment analysis and KOBAS 3.0 was used for KEGG enrichment analysis. The molecular docking technology was used to connect the components with higher medium values in the network with core targets. The results showed that the network contained 36 compounds such as quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin, myricanone and ferulic acid, and 99 targets such as PTGS2, PTGS2, PGR and PPARG. Totally 102 GO terms were obtained by GO functional enrichment analysis(P<0.01), and 228 signal pathways were obtained by KEGG pathway enrichment(P<0.05), mainly involving inflammatory factors, hormone regulation, central analgesia, amino acid metabolism and spasmolysis. The results of molecular docking showed that the main active components can spontaneously bind to the targets. This study preliminarily revealed the mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction for treatment of primary dysmenorrheal through multi-components, multi-targets and multi-pathways, providing theoretical references for further researches on mechanism of Taohong Siwu Decoction.

HPLC fingerprint and simultaneous determination of nine components in Taohong Siwu Decoction of classical prescriptions / 中草药

Objective: To establish chemical fingerprint and multi-components determination of 15 batches of Taohong Siwu Decoction (TSD), and provide reference for the improvement of its quality control. Methods: The separation was performed on Thermo Hypersil Gold C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) for gradient elution with methanol-0.1% phosphoric acid aqueous solution, flow rate 1.0 mL/min, column temperature 30 ℃, and detection wavelength 225 nm. The HPLC fingerprint was established and evaluated by the similarity evaluation system of TCM (version 2012A), and the difference of chemical information between 15 batches of different samples was evaluated by cluster analysis. Furthermore, the content of the nine active components in the sample was determined by HPLC multi-component wavelength switching method, with the partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS- DA) by SIMCA 14.1 software to find significant components of the quality between the batches. Results: The HPLC fingerprint of 15 batches of TSD was established. The similarity was greater than 0.96, and 35 common peaks were identified as gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, amygdalin, albiflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, senkyunolide I, benzoylpaeoniflorin and ligustilide (corresponding to peaks 2, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 25, 31, and 32). The linearity relationships of gallic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, chlorogenic acid, albiflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, paeoniflorin, ferulic acid, verbascoside, and senkyunolide I (r ≥ 0.999 6) were good. The results of content determination respectively were 187.5-344.4, 6.2-154.8, 413.2-459.2, 507.5-923.5, 873.8-1 202.0, 2 122.3-2 782.9, 59.2-121.3, 6.4-26.9, and 38.9-79.6 μg/g, respectively, including higher content of paeoniflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, and albiflorin. Furthermore, 15 batches of samples from different origins were classified into three categories. Using PLS-DA analysis, the content determination result showed that paeoniflorin, albiflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural were the four components that affected the quality of different batches of TSD. Conclusion: HPLC fingerprint combined with multi-components determination is suitable for quality control and evaluation of TSD preparation.

Review of Chemical Constituents, Pharmacological Effects and Clinical Applications of Taohong Siwutang and Predictive Analysis of Its Quality Marker / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Taohong Siwutang is a classical famous formula for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. This paper reviewed the research progress of chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, clinical applications of Taohong Siwutang in recent years. At present, the study on the chemical constituents of different extracts of Taohong Siwutang is systematic. The study of its pharmacological effects mostly includes promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, regulating menstruation, promoting fracture healing, and so on. In clinical practice, Taohong Siwutang can be used in the treatment of multi-system and multi-viscera diseases, such as gynecological diseases, internal diseases, orthopedic diseases, dermatological diseases, and the like. Based on this, the quality markers of Taohong Siwutang are predicted and analyzed from the perspectives of quality transmissibility and traceability, ingredient specificity, component validity, component measurability, and formula compatibility environment, which is called five principles of quality marker (Q-marker). According to the analysis, ferulic acid, paeoniflorin, amygdalin, albiflorin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, catalpol and gallic acid can be selected as Q-markers of Taohong Siwutang. Subsequently, these Q-markers can be selected as indicators to conduct whole quality control of Taohong Siwutang and establish a quality traceable system by the quality transmitting of medicinal materials, decoction pieces, intermediates and corresponding objects, so as to provide a reference for the study of the whole process quality control system of Taohong Siwutang.

Simultaneous Determination of Eight Active Components in Material Benchmark of Shentong Zhuyutang by HPLC-DAD Wavelength Switching / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective::To develop high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) wavelength switching for simultaneously determining the contents of inosine, loganic acid, chlorogenic acid, amygdalin, hydroxysafflor yellow A, gentiopicroside, ferulic acid and liquiritin in 15 batches of material benchmarks of Shentong Zhuyutang. Method::The quantitative analysis was carried out on a Thermo Hypersil GOLD C18 column (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm) with mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.1%phosphoric acid aqueous solution for gradient elution, the flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1, the detection wavelengths were set as 248 nm (0-11 min, inosine), 235 nm (11-14 min, loganic acid), 324 nm (14-16 min, chlorogenic acid), 220 nm (16-19 min, amygdalin and hydroxysafflor yellow A), 274 nm (19-26 min, gentiopicroside), 247 nm (26-54 min, ferulic acid and liquiritin), the column temperature was maintained at 25 ℃. According to the contents of eight active components in 15 batches of material benchmarks, orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) in SIMCA 14.1 was used to evaluate the quality difference of each batch of samples. Result::Each component had good separations, the linear ranges of the above 8 components were 2.1-67.2, 1.812 5-58, 1.937 5-62, 5.212 5-166.8, 8.45-270.4, 7.075-226.4, 1.775-56.8, 3.875-124 mg·L-1, respectively (r≥0.999 6). The average recoveries of them were 99.23%, 100.09%, 99.33%, 98.85%, 99.15%, 98.75%, 99.42%, 98.96%, respectively (RSD<2%). The contents of the above eight components in 15 batches of material benchmarks were 0.183 5-0.250 3, 0.173 1-0.265 3, 0.069 5-0.169 8, 0.959 2-1.458 2, 1.905 4-2.553 3, 0.933 3-1.997 5, 0.084 6-0.143 4, 0.212 5-0.704 3 mg·g-1, respectively. Liquiritin, ferulic acid, gentiopicroside and hydroxysafflor yellow A were determined to have significant impact on the quality of different batches of material benchmarks of Shentong Zhuyutang through OPLS-DA. Conclusion::The established method for simultaneous determination of multi-components is reliable, simple and in line with the requirements of methodological verification. It is suitable for the quality control of research and development of compound preparations of Shentong Zhuyutang.

Quality Analysis of Standard Decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective: To prepare standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma and conduct its quality analysis.Method: According to the requirements of standard decoction,15 batches of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from three producing areas were prepared,the HPLC fingerprint was established and the quality analysis was carried out by cluster analysis;under common pattern of fingerprint,the simultaneous determination of four index components (ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A and ligustilide) was established by HPLC.The transfer rates of main components,dry extract yield,pH value of samples were measured.Result: A total of 15 batches of standard decoctions of Chuanxiong Rhizoma were fingerprinted by Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine (edition of 2012A).Twenty-two common peaks were identified,and their similarities were all greater than 0.92,and peak 11,13,17,18,19 and 20 were identified qualitatively as ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A,n-butylphthalide,coniferyl ferulate and ligustilide,respectively.The quality overview of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from three producing areas could be distinguished through cluster analysis,which showed that there were differences in quality of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from different producing areas,but the quality was relatively stable in different batches of samples from the same origin.Under common pattern,there were four major components in 15 batches of standard decoction of Chuanxiong Rhizoma,including ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide A and ligustilide.Contents of senkyunolide A (0.176 3-0.249 8 g·L-1) and senkyunolide I (0.065 2-0.103 4 g·L-1) was high in the standard decoction,content of ligustilide (0.040 0-0.089 8 g·L-1) followed,and content of ferulic acid (0.022 0-0.042 3 g·L-1) was the lowest,transfer rates of the above four components were 6.63%-11.82%,33.32%-55.98%,1.26%-3.73% and 16.39%-33.05%,respectively.Dry extract yield of the standard decoction was 12.69% to 19.78%,and the pH was 4.54 to 4.82.Conclusion: This study establishes the fingerprint and multi-component determination methods of standard decoctions of Chuanxiong Rhizoma from various producing areas,which is suitable for quality control of this standard decoction.

Tissue distribution of sialic acid-linked influenza virus receptors in beagle dogs

Reports of influenza A virus infections in dogs has received considerable attention from veterinarians, virologists, and epidemiologists. Interaction between influenza viral hemagglutinin and cell oligosaccharides containing sialic acid residues results in infection. Sialic acids have an alpha-2,3-linkage to the penultimate galactose in the avian influenza virus receptor and an alpha-2,6-linkage in the human receptor. To date, there are no detailed data on the tissue distribution or histological features of either type of sialic acid-linked influenza virus receptors in beagle dogs, which are common laboratory animals and pets. We conducted the current study to visualize the in situ tissue distribution of both sialic acid-linked influenza virus receptors in various organs of beagle dogs using Maackia amurensis lectin II and Sambucus nigra agglutinin. Both alpha-2,3- and alpha-2,6-sialic acid-linked receptors were detected in the endothelial cells of the respiratory tract and other organs. Endothelial cells of most gastrointestinal organs were negative for alpha-2,3-sialic acid-linked receptors in the dogs. Our results suggested that these canine organs may be affected by influenza virus infection. The findings from our study will also help evaluate the occurrence and development of influenza virus infections in dogs.